Update 2021-02-07: old links removed.
Riverview Church runs a few Hot Topic nights each year, evenings when people can text in questions on a topic that churches tend to avoid as controversial of difficult. His Kingdom Come: Preparing for the End of the World was the topic — appropriate for the date (9/11).
Graham Irvine and I (Allen Browne) began by providing some background (15–20 minutes each), while the audience texted in their questions. You can listen to the audio:
- initial addresses, with notes (PDF),
- responses to the questions.
The questions we addressed:
- What signs will tell us the end is near? What signs should we look for? Why are people so intrigued by looking for signs?
- Who is the “antichrist”? What does this term mean? How does this fit into the story?
- If you believe that God wants to restore the earth, how does 2 Peter 3:10 relate? That verse talks about everything being burnt up.
- What’s the point of preaching the gospel if Jesus is going to come back and make everything right anyway?
- Why hasn’t Jesus already come again? What’s he waiting for?
- What happens to sinners/non-Jesus followers at the final judgement and if they don’t go to a physical ‘hell’ – what happens to them/what was the parable about Lazarus and the rich man all about when the space the rich man was in was described as ‘hell’?
- Allen, you spoke about there being no seas in the ending, because it is unruly, but God created the seas, so surely he is ruler of them, is he not?
- Does 1 Corinthians 15:25 mean that everyone will have become a believer? What about Hell and Satan?
- Will there be gender in heaven – male & female?
We’ll never satisfy everyone with a topic like this, but it’s still worth having the discussion, not least so we can consider how the end resolves the Bible’s narrative.
Seeking the kingdom 